Digital chronograph is primary function of new Razer Nabu Watch

Smartwatches seemed to be everywhere last year. And while they seemed to be able to do a lot of things pretty well – track your fitness, let you know if someone is emailing/calling/texting, remind you of upcoming events – many of them could barely be considered watches.

Enter the Razer Nabu Watch. Announced Tuesday, Razer refers to it as “the ultimate expression of a wrist-worn wearable that is for gamers, by gamers.” A Razer press release states that the company made the digital chronograph – that is, the “watch” part of things – the primary focus of the device.

In addition to fairly standard watch features such as backlit display, stopwatches, timers and a world clock, the Nabu also allows users to sync the watch to their phones via Bluetooth so that it always displays the correct time. Additionally, the watch features a replaceable coin cell battery that purports to have a lifespan of a year.

Via Bluetooth pairing, the Nabu’s secondary screen can alert wearers to calls, texts, emails and app alerts. It also features a built-in accelerometer that tracks steps walked, distance traveled and calories burned. Finally, the Nabu can “shake hands” with another Nabu watch, Nabu or Nabu X so that users can exchange Facebook and Twitter information.

The standard version of the Nabu Watch will be available later this month for $149 and will be made of polycarbonate materials. The Forged edition will cost you $199 and features stainless steel buttons and a black finish. It will be available Jan. 6 exclusively at RazerStore retail locations and at RazerStore.com.

LAS VEGAS (CES 2016) – Razer, a world leader in connected devices and software for gamers, today announced the Razer Nabu Watch. The full-featured digital timepiece includes a Nabu secondary screen that previews notifications streamed from a smartphone, as well as tracks fitness and sleep activity via an in-built accelerometer.

While smartwatches have proliferated the industry in 2015, one of the biggest challenges to the devices have been their battery life and their fundamental lack of capability as a multi-function watch. Razer addresses these issues by focusing first on the digital chronograph as the primary function and the smart features as a secondary addition.

The Razer Nabu Watch includes features expected of top-tier digital watches – an illuminated backlit display, countdown timer, stopwatch, World time clocks and alarms – as well as automatic phone time sync via Bluetooth to ensure the watch is always accurate to the global standard. Most importantly, the Razer Nabu Watch digital chronograph component has a 12-month life on its coin cell replaceable battery.

A secondary screen outfitted in the Razer Nabu Watch delivers all the features of a Nabu wearable, including discreet notifications, fitness tracking and watch-to-watch communication.

Paired to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth, calls, texts, emails and app alerts all stream to the secondary screen for ease of viewing. An in-built accelerometer enables comprehensive fitness tracking – steps walked, distance traveled, calories burned and more. Finally, with its unique watch-to-watch communication capability, two Nabu Watch users can shake hands to exchange Facebook and Twitter info easily. This feature works interchangeably between any Nabu Watch, Nabu and/or Nabu X. The watch’s secondary screen has seven days of rechargeable battery life via an included charging cable.

“We’re bringing together the reliability and incredible functionality of a digital timepiece, with added smart features to empower the tech enthusiasts of today,” says Razer CEO and co-founder, Min-Liang Tan. “We’re also just really excited to create a digital watch that we’re proud to call our own – a natural intersection between our popular work in apparel and wearables. This was something our fans have asked for, and we’re happy to deliver.”

The Razer Nabu Watch is available in two versions. The standard edition is designed with tough polycarbonate materials and with Razer green highlights. It will be available from late January 2016 and is priced at $149.99. The Razer Nabu Watch Forged Edition has machined stainless steel buttons for added durability and a premium black finish. It is available from January 6th 2016 exclusively at RazerStore retail locations and at RazerStore.com, priced at $199.99.

After five years as a newspaper reporter in western Illinois and two more as a freelancer in Chicago, Bill's life has gone to the dogs in the best way possible.
These days, Bill lives in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood with his terrier mix, Chester, and works at a small, no-kill animal shelter while he studies to be a professional dog trainer. His non-work and non-TalkAndroid time is spent finding the best beer in Chicago, playing with Chester, watching roller derby and occasionally writing.
Besides TalkAndroid, Bill writes about dogs and beer at Pints and Pups (www.chicagonow.com/pints-pups) and contributes beer news and commentary at SommBeer (www.sommbeer.com).
Bill's Android gear of choice for the moment is his trusty LG G3.